Well, picking a January date seemed to be the same for those of us in the wintery type environments...It's a great break...While we have never cruised before...many of our family and friends have and LOVE it....we figured we would give it a shot....like you....my husband runs a boat yard, so summer time is the height of the season...I help him when I can, but I run a youth/teen center...so summer evenings are busy for me...just can't get away...besides...I already live in paradise (during the summer) and have no reason to get away...but during the winter...yeah, that's a whole different story....